A
lot of admin this week, with the open call for the magazine ending and the last
day seeing a wave of around 50 people applying, why do people leave it until
the last day? Alongside this The Sacred 419 show ended as well as Between at A217. I've basically finished
the tower piece and embarked on a new project utilising the lights in the A217
space in preparation for the show I'm curating next month, which I also
organised this week. Let’s get on with it then…
All
that needs doing now with regard to the tower work is photographing everything
and coming up with a name, maybe The Tower of Facebook or something like that,
or maybe not. I’ll consider this a little more. Unfortunately, I had to buy
another tripod this week, which rendered all the holes in the motherboard that
I cut last week a little too small, so those had to be re-drilled. After that
happened a few were able to fit in perfectly without glue but some had to be
glued, which will be a fucker when I have to transport the piece around. I do
seem to keep making objects, things that need to be encased with bubble wrap in
order to be transported. It definitely signals something, caring more about my
work or becoming more professional with how I view my work… I decided to place
a few of the little blue men on the different levels of the installation as
well as adding USB sticks and connecting some of the motherboards with
different wires, ranging in length and type. The blue men could either be the
employees of Facebook working at the different levels of the corporate tower or
the users of Facebook, with the figures representing our data running through
the different machines. The USB sticks are going to hark back to a previous
project that I worked on last year, where I stole people’s data. This time each
Facebook stick holds a different persons Facebook data which can be downloaded
from Facebook and sent to your email address. I think there’s three in the structure,
so three separate people’s account details. Maybe I can make it into a thing,
asking people for their data, similar to how Facebook does with a signed terms
and conditions, making my signed terms and conditions into a work within itself
to accompany the piece to every outing. Very Constant Dullaart. The various
wires connecting the platforms are there simply to connect them, similar to
lifts in a building or the overall internet/electricity connecting everyone’s
computers.
I'm
pretty solidly going with the idea of having the phone live streaming to my own
Facebook account, although this means wherever the work is shown there will
always have to be WIFI, so maybe I should check that out for the upcoming show.
Although usually everywhere has WIFI… So yeah, that’s basically finished, just
need to document in a white space tomorrow…
I
do need to spend some time on the Facebook emoji scroll thing, as I keep
putting it off, not thinking of a good enough idea. I just need to do it and
then the editing will begin and it will be fun. I keep coming back to Fantastic
Planet, the film where aliens have humans as their play things and are
considered rodents. I’ve been thinking about going through the entire film and
adding the emoji scroll to it, but just need to do it… Or spend a solid hour
thinking about what would work with the emoji scroll and what I’m actually
trying to say by utilising it.
Another
new piece that’s forming is two pieces of thin blue acrylic that will be
slotted over the lights in A217 for the show that I’m curating. Although it
feels a little like a carry on from my previous curated show, this time the
blue light is actually going to be my work, rather than a curatorial decision.
Yet again, blue used to represent capitalism overshadowing the entirety of the
internet, all this work that’s been created post web 2.0. I’ve also bought some
small emoji stickers to put on the acrylic, making Capitalism into this light
hearted idea in a similar vein to how it’s very readily discussed now but not
really ‘properly’ considered, similar to emoji’s that are usually used and
disregarded. Although acrylic is being used because that’s the material that is
the best for the situation, I enjoy how it’s commonly used in tinting windows,
making viewers unable to see into cars or homes, or colouring the owners of
said homes.
Speaking
of my curated show, I came up with a name alongside a little writing to convey
why all the different artists have been brought together. The title ‘I miss
you, Blockbuster’ is both lamenting the past and looking towards the future
whilst being click bait enough for people to randomly click ‘interested’.
This
is from the event page:
Isthisit? X A217 present: I miss you,
Blockbuster...
Private view: 2nd March, 6-8pm
3rd - 17th March - open by appointment
only
'I miss you, Blockbuster' seeks to
present a number of works that confront how the internet and the evolution of
the screen has fundamentally changed society and how it functions, distorting
viewing habits and re-aligning our bone structures. From voyeuristic narcissism
to an internet detox, the artists involved explore ways to combat the
acceleration of technological reproduction whilst commenting on the web 2.0
landscape of today and the multiverse of tomorrow.
'I miss you, Blockbuster' will feature
work by:
Bob Bicknell-Knight
Pippa Eason
Juliet Fleming
Roxanne Gatt
Elliot Warren Gibbons
Bartosz Kolata
Laila Majid
Karl Sims
Curated by Bob Bicknell-Knight
So
yeah, I think it will be good and have made it into a bigger thing by making it
a collaboration between the two spaces, even though they’re both basically run
by myself. I’ll be showing the acrylic, Pippa will be exhibiting a sculpture
utilising selfie sticks, Juliet with a lightsabre like staff shaped like a
penis on both ends, Roxanne with one of her video works, Elliot with a
sculpture about post-god, Bartosz with a painting, Laila with a print that will
be covering the entire floor and Karl with a video. I think it will be good,
with all the sculptures being sent to me this week/last week, so I’ll have lots
of time to try out how to physically present the work.
Also
this week was the solo show from Roxanne, which went really well. We met up and
spent a few hours putting the site together, which made the whole process a lot
easier. It also gave her a chance to debut a new video work which gave the
exhibition more heft. I’m a big fan of her work, check out the show by
following this link and explore the various windows. The title ‘The Evolution
of Roxman Gatt’ is made to be funny, mocking retrospective exhibitions. I’ll be
writing the curatorial notes in a few days too: www.isthisitisthisit.com/the-evolution-of-roxman-gatt
As
I mentioned earlier, the magazine open call ended. I’ve contacted all the
successful artists and am just waiting to hear back from them all before
releasing the full list. Everyone who got in has to pay a tenner, although I’m
going to give them all a free copy of the magazine which will probably come to
more than a tenner, so I’ll probably lose money. I’m not really sure what to do
about that, other than simply losing money… Anyway, the majority of the work is
digital, with a few exceptions. I’ve also got a number of essays being written
for it, four in total, all about different areas of the internet, alongside four
artist interviews. I’ve finished interviewing Pippa Eason and in the process of
interviewing Thomas Tylor, Luke Narin and Roxanne. It’s a nice mixture of
emerging artists I feel, with the interviews working more like a conversation
than anything, lasting for about 1500 words. These have been exciting to do,
learning about these people’s work more whilst learning about my own interviewing
style too. Maybe I should make this a feature on isthisit?, artist interviews? I think this could be a thing…
I’m
currently thinking about times, looking to publish mid-March, with hopefully a ‘launch
event’, although who knows where that would be. It could be tied in with the
exhibition happening there, but I’d quite like it to be distanced from uni as
much as possible. It could happen in my own house again, but that may be
annoying/weird, I definitely don’t want to have to rent anywhere to do this.
What
else? I took down the work at The Square Gallery, which was a fairly successful
exhibition. The goggles were fairly damaged, although fixable, and it was good
to get feedback on how fragile these things are. The Between show was also taken down, with myself and Zoe (another
person who runs the space) having to lug all 11 of the 8 x 4 wooden sheets that
made up the huge sculptures down four flights of stairs last minute on Friday
due to the artist asking us to on the day. Incredibly unprofessional and fucked
my hands completely. It’s safe to say I will not be working with him again
alongside vetoing any huge work like that being displayed in the gallery, as it’s
just too much effort. The documentation from the show should be up soon.
I
heard back from a few things this week too, a weird glitch art exhibition in
Minneapolis: http://www.gamutgallerympls.com/2017/02/10/glitch-art-is-dead/
Alongside this I’m going to be a resident with I O U A E, a program put
together by Stacey Davidson, a really nice artist who’s shown with isthisit? in the past. The website for
that is here and my residency will occur in April: http://iouae.format.com/ I also found out
that I got into Xhibit 20, an
exhibition put on every year that’s made up of students from UAL, exhibited in
the Art Bermondsey Project Space. The piece Let’s
Be Friends was accepted, which I’m happy about but I’m also very tired of
lugging the work around. Along with the work being exhibited, I also get a year’s
membership to the V&A, which is kind of fun, although I literally never go
there. Maybe I will now? Probably not…
Is
there anything else to talk about? As you may have guessed, art was slow this
week but it’ll hopefully speed up as we get closer and closer to the end of
term. One month, how time fucking flies… I really want to make something new
now, something good. I’ve only made two full pieces of work this term, four now
with the addition of the motherboard sculpture and the acrylic… I need to be
producing more stuff…
I
went to an artist talk, which was quite fun, an artist called Harold Offeh.
Creating his own album covers from famous African American artists and setting
up week long residencies in Tate Britain, pretty solid actually.
These are my
very basic notes:
Entry muic – series of references –
informing ongoing works and projects – reference text – BUTCH QUEEN FIRST TIME
IN DRAG
Sun ra – big reference for you –
narrative around identiyy, etc, etc – space is the place – from Saturn, etc,
etc, etc – he’s interested in presenting himself as a reality – centralised
around the idea of myth/;legend – myth narrative – political strategy –
heightened race relations, post 60s cicvia right,s, identities conflict – man
on the moon reference – space = white space – no black people who go up to the
moon =- appropriating sci fi as a metaphor – possibility of change – idea of
possiblioty to create a narrate ve – challenging stereotypes, etc, etc –
mythopososis – reality and myth – tackling pre-given stereotypes – forcing you
into certain posititions, etc – prefce to his own work
Early 20th century – underground =
utopian project – an emnacipatroy thing used to travel through time and s[pace
– language of the underground = like sci-fi language, etc – introducing sun ra
as a model, informing a project, attempting o re-imagine the underground as a
matter transporter, star trek, etc
Announcements to commmuters,
interesting – each voiving the sci fi utopian things – echoed on the escalator
panels – moving escallators – like in the work within itself was transporting
people – young people and space – benlignly about the young people talking
about the lack of access in north west – climing these areas – 18 months –
interesting
Covers: attempts at embodying histories
– album covers – strategy of appropriation and re-enacting an original –
re-taking/making album covers
Black and white minstrel show – black
people doing black face – early days – performing a given sterotype of themselves
– confronting an image that isn’t your own whilst your perfoming to that image?
Grace jones – image of her –
represented and photoshopped, an unreal image – mythology that occurred/has
gone into grace and herself – objectified notion – an ablum cover is about
branding/marketing – projecting an image of the musician/singer – cultural
artefact of a given momemtn
Covers – recreating the image in
relation to the original image to go alongside the music – structure of the
perfroamnce is based on the cover flow – constructed around a playlist – track
playlist = album cover, seeing his version – perfroamnce is made up of the
length of the track – lyrical content with the performative act- directing the
audience to the original image – the performance is always a failure –
impossibility of the thing
Mythipiosis – proximity – interrogation
between grace, sexuality – surfused through poitical culture
Working with instittuions – given a lot
of license – challenge/interrogation of artists practice – different relationship
between artists practice and audeiences – continue to do and really enjoy
working within – working with tate, etc, etc – encourtering artists working in
the tate – micro residencies, etc
I
think that’s everything? I only went to a few exhibitions, mostly dull ones
too. The show at Tenderpixel right now is okay, ‘nothing to write home about’.
It’s called Tropical Hangover, with all the works being presented in an attempt
to create this tropical environment I guess? The whole floor has been painted
blue which has been used for a film that is accessed by going to Tenderpixel’s
website, showing the camera exploring the two floors of the gallery space, with
the floor turned into a green screen showing an abundancy of leaves. It’s not
very exciting. The one standout piece was a video from Laura Prouvost called Swallow which had an overlaid soundtrack
of someone breathing, with the editing of the video revolving around that
experience. It reminded me of her work from British Art Show 8 back in the
summer (God, those were the days), where an entire room was breathing, becoming
a body to inhabit. The video captures nature in its various forms, from naked
women bathing in a secluded rock pool to flowers and butterflies on a country
road. Everything else was a bit dull, with the downstairs being particularly
bad, ceramic sculpture dotted around the room with seemingly no real thought to
how they’d been curated... Yeah, I expected more from this show.
The
other exhibition I went to was at Kingsgate Project Space, quite far West, a little
too far West… It had a solo show from Harry Lawson, a curator of objects, displaying
various stones and artefacts in purpose built cabinets alongside a simulated
log fire and a video of oil being projected onto oil. It was good, very small,
but in a good way and incredibly thought out. Yeah, it was good, and his
website is really considered which I fully appreciate: http://harrylawson.co.uk/
Other
than galleries, a few films were seen. A few really lovely ones actually, ones
that I really enjoyed and appreciated. The first was 20th Century Women, a film about a teenage boy in a
house, surrounded by women, who all attempt to educate him about women. It’s
very lovely and incredibly crushing, lots of very ‘real’ events occur, doors slamming
and the mother feeling like she’s lost her son. Yeah, really crushing and
slightly stunned me when the credits rolled…
Another
beautiful film was Toni Erdmann, a
film about a father who’s lost touch with his daughter who’s in her thirties.
When the daughter comes back to her home town, the father sees her and
obviously feels out of the loop, disconnected to what’s going on in her life.
We also see how witty he is, terrible ‘dad’ jokes and making a fool out of
himself for both his and other people’s benefit. He then travels to where she’s
working in a different county, surprising her with awkwardness ensuing. The
entire film is incredibly awkward and just, just so crushing, yet again. To
compare the film to The Office would
be wrong, as this is a lot more awkward and a lot more depressing when devastating
things happen. It is a truly wonderful film, with beautiful points of humour
and relief but packed with depression.
I
finally got to see Cube, a film where
a group of people are trapped within this huge system of cubes that they must
attempt to escape from. In each cube there may or may not be a trap that will instantly
kill you. It’s quite brutal and contains some interesting discussions about the
government and people working towards an unnecessary end goal. It’s a solid
film, but not a beautiful one.
Tulpan
was a bit weird, a man is living in a yurt in Kazakhstan with his parents
trying to set him up with the very few women that are around whilst he lives a
very absent life herding goats in the desert. It was funny but slightly brutal
at times.
I’m
annoyed that I watched Chappie, I
knew it was going to be crap but I watched it anyway. The acting from the
gangsters was terrible alongside the weak plot and really annoying robot.
Compared to Neill Blomkamp’s earlier work with District 9 and Elysium,
this was pretty shit and basic.
Another
basic one was The Invasion with Nicole
Kidman and Daniel Craig, with the classic story of aliens slowly turning every
human being into an alien, networking everyone so they’re all the same, unity.
Basically a rip off of Invasion of the
Body Snatchers. It was okay, but when a film has done the exact concept ten
times better it’s not that interesting, maybe it was going to be a remake but
changed the title a little bit? Most probably. Either way, Body Snatchers didn’t need a remake, it’s already had many.
I
got around to watching Louis Theroux in My
Scientology Movie, which was okay, but hardly that interesting. Going Clear is obviously the better,
more informed film, this one just has Louis in it, being weirdly
confrontational. His whole thing is being as non-confrontational as possible in
his earlier films and TV shows, but in this it feels like he wants something to
happen; be it someone filming him from across the road or being confronted by
one of the Church’s top ranking officials. It just really weird and not very
good. It was like watching a drunk person attempting to start a fight with
someone else who obviously isn’t going to.
Focus
was average, Will Smith being himself, joking around and being a con man. I did
enjoy the various twists in the plot, some of which I wasn’t expecting,
although it’s incredibly hard to beat The
Prestige for unexpected twists. It was fun and light, nothing really to
shout or scream about.
Another
lovely/sad film was The Edge of Seventeen,
the classic story of a teenager who feels friendless and awkward at parties,
with one good friend who then starts dating her brother. Although it was definitely
a story that’s done to death, the acting from Haillee Steinfeld was solid and believable
alongside Woody Harrelson as her ‘tough’ teacher, who she is surprised to see
has a real life when she visits his house. The classic ‘I didn’t know teachers
had lives’ moment which we all know and love. A nice companion to 20th Century Women, although
no way as good.
The
final film of the week was Certain Women,
a film that sees three different stories featuring three different women
connecting and intervening with each other. It was really very good, very real
and very surprising. I won’t say any more, just watch and see.
I
did play a little of Deus Ex: Mankind
Divided, a game that put you in the shoes of Adam Jensen, a mechanically
augmented man from the near future. The Deus
Ex series is an interesting one, looking at the politics of body/mind
augmentation which will start to develop in the following years, using that as
a way in to talk about race and gender, similar to science fictions’ roots with
TV shows like Star Trek. This is mixed in with a heavy ‘the Illuminati is
controlling everything’ vibe which is kind of fun. I’m looking forward to
playing more basically, when I have the time.
Umm
yeah, I think that may be my very basic, admin heavy week. Things are slowly
moving forwards, with the magazine being heavily developed right now. I didn’t
really realise how difficult it was to put together a magazine by yourself… Alongside
stuff with isthisit? going well and
my own practice slowly going places. Yeah, I think I’m happy about how things
are progressing, I think…
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